


Hopeless

by SydelleRein



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Finds Out First, Adrien Agreste Knows, Adrien Agreste panics, Adrinette, Confident Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Crushes, F/M, Funny, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, POV Adrien Agreste, accidental reveal, adrien can't deal, one-sided reveal, pretty talented fierce marinette is ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 05:57:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18162248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydelleRein/pseuds/SydelleRein
Summary: Adrien accidentally finds out Ladybug's identity and panics.





	Hopeless

**Author's Note:**

> Here you are! My second Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction. I'm surprised how much this show has hooked me. 
> 
> I have not seen anything from the most recent season, but there's nothing in this (as far as I know) that puts it in any particular time-frame.
> 
> Please enjoy!
> 
> ~Syd

Chat Noir lightly landed in an alleyway next to his school, just as the last warning bell rang, giving its final notice for straggling students to get to class. “Claws In,” he muttered. A moment and a flash of light later and he stood once again as Adrien Agreste. Plagg came floating in front of his face.

“Phew, made it,” Adrien announced to his friend. “Thanks Plagg. I thought for sure I was gonna be late this time.” He should have just enough time to jet up to class.

But just then, a sudden sound from somewhere overhead sent him scrambling behind the dumpster instead. Why Adrien Agreste was hanging out in an empty alleyway minutes before school started was not a question he wanted to deal with.

A moment later, none other than Ladybug landed in the same alleyway. He frowned. What was she—

“Spots Off.”

\--doing here.

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late to look away and a long-standing secret was suddenly and completely ripped away. His jaw dropped to the ground and Marrinette— _Marinette Dupain-Ladybug-Cheng_ —scampered immediately towards the school with a floating red and black kwami quickly zipping inside her purse.

The final bell rang while Adrien remained frozen behind a dumpster in absolute shock.

“Adrien?” Plagg drawled. He suddenly floated directly into Adrien’s face, successfully shocking him back into some semblance of sense. “Did you break?”

“Marinette.” Adrien muttered. “Plagg. Ladybug. She’s—she’s _Marinette! Marinette is Ladybug!”_

“Oh dear. We were afraid you’d react this way.”

Adrien suddenly jerked his eyes to stare at his kwami. “What do you mean _we?”_ he shouted. “You _knew?_ Who _else_ knows?” His eyes widened and his whole body stiffened in sudden panic. “Does _Marinette_ know?” he demanded.

“That she’s Ladybug?” Plagg asked innocently. “I would think so.”

_“That I’m Chat Noir!”_

“Oh that. No. But Tikki does.”

“Who the hell is Tikki?” he waved his arms frantically.

Plagg winced. “She’s Ladybug’s kwami,” he explained. “See, she and I have know for a while who the two of you are. And…well. We kind of have some bets placed on how well each of you will handle things when you inevitably find out.”

“Bets.” Adrien repeated.

“Yes. Though I lost the first one. I bet Marinette would find out first. Since you’re so incredibly dense.”

“What am I going to do?” Adrien asked, rubbing a hand over his face. “This is…this is the _worst_ thing that could have possibly happened.”

Plagg frowned. “I thought you liked Marinette.”

“Like her!” Adrien shouted., “Plagg, _Marinette is Ladybug!”_

“Yes. We’ve established that. And?”

“So it’s _hopeless!”_

“Wha--?”

“With Ladybug, at least we’re both superheroes, right? We fight together, we’re on relatively equal ground. I at least had a _shot._ Maybe someday. But Marinette-freakin-Dupain-Cheng?”

“I still don’t—”

Adrien threw up his hands in exasperation at Plagg’s cluelessness. “She’s only the most popular girl in school! The entire school is _devoted_ to her. She goes out of her way for _everyone._ She’s pretty. And smart. And talented. And good at _everything._ Pretty much every guy in our class has had a crush on her at one point. Now I get to add fierce warrior to that insane list. I don’t have a _chance!”_

Plagg went suddenly mute at this outburst, then burst into hysterical laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Adrien fumed, blushing scarlet.

“You’re worried she won’t like you!” Plagg shouted between his peels of laughter, then dissolved into hysterics once more.

“Ugh!” Adrien threw up his hands in frustration again, then stormed off without another word, steaming. It wasn’t _funny,_ he repeated in his own head. Plagg’s peels of laughter faded into helpless giggles as they approached the school and he tucked himself away into Adrien’s pocket. The giggles finally subsided as well when he remembered the camembert and started munching away.

Marinette. Of all people. Marinette. It made sense. Of _course_ it made sense. So much sense that he called himself ten kinds of idiot as he marched towards his classroom.

He’d been able to pointedly ignore his small growing crush on Marinette solely because of his devotion to Ladybug. Now he was helplessly in love with the most amazing and unattainable girl probably in all of Paris. Marinette and Ladybug were the same. Freaking. Person. How could so much perfection exist in one human being? It wasn’t fair.

He was so lost in his swirling train of thoughts that he didn’t notice the footsteps coming from around the corner until it was too late. He and the other person collided and down they both went in the middle of the hallway.

“Sorry!” squeaked a familiar voice. Adrien gasped sharply, eyes going wide and heat creeping into his face as he realized exactly who he’d just run into. “Sorry, Adrien, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Marinette apologized.

“Watching not—I mean, worry don’t—agh!” Adrien shook his head firmly, trying desperately to form some kind of coherent sentence. “I mean don’t worry!” he smiled past his panic. He jumped to his feet and offered her a hand. But then he pulled her up a little too hard and pulled her straight into him. If he wasn’t blushing before, he definitely was now. “Sorry!” he said. He made to move her back slightly, but overshot and then stood there basically holding her out at arms length. He dropped his arms like lead and forced another laugh. “S-sorry,” he stuttered again. What was _wrong_ with him?

She giggled. “Don’t worry. Everything all right though? You’re not usually late.”

“Fine every—everything’s fine. Just woke up late, is all.”

“Ok. Well I’ll see you soon. I’m just picking up a paper from the printer for Ms. Bustier.”

“S—see you soon,” he stammered, then waved like an idiot while she walked away.

The moment she disappeared from view he slammed his palm against his burning face in humiliation. 

“Smooth,” came an amused voice from his pocket.

“Shut up,” he hissed. He continued on to class, feeling miserably inadequate.

Marinette Ladybug Dupain-Cheng. How on earth was he going to win over his lady now?


End file.
